Why Charlie Gard’s Case Is so Disturbing to Americans

July 13, 2017

(STAT News) – In America, however, numerous state laws explicitly state that quality-of-life determinations and decisions about withdrawing life-sustaining care must come from the patient, his or her family, or another available surrogate, as in New York’s Family Health Care Decisions Act. In clinical practice in the U.S., ethicists often encounter cases in which the care team thinks that life support should be turned off for the same reasons cited by the British and European courts in Charlie’s case. But as long as there is an available surrogate decision maker, no one other than that individual can decide to withdraw life support.